DEKALB, Ill. – Northern Kentucky volleyball finished the Holiday Inn Express Invitational with a 1-2 record, falling to Nevada in three, 25-16, 25-22-28-26, before a heroic comeback win over the host Huskies in five sets, 21-25, 23-25, 30-28, 25-21, 15-11. The Norse move to 3-3 on the season with the close of the tournament. Libs was named to the all-tournament team following its conclusion.
Match 1 Recap: Nevada 3, NKU 0
First Set Summary
- NKU's offense struggled with just eight kills compared to 15 for Nevada, with the Norse hitting just .027 in the set.
- After trading points for the first 20 of the stanza, Nevada used a 10-3 run thanks to a string of kills and a pair of aces to jump ahead, 20-13 and cruised on to a 25-16 set win.
- Peytton Bagwell fared well in her first collegiate start, leading the team with three kills on four swings.
Second Set Summary
- The Norse switched up the rotation to a truer 6-2 rotation, which saw success early on with two blocks assists from Bagwell going pin-to-pin, an ace and a pair of attacking errors allowing the Norse to extend out to a 7-1 lead.
- Nevada inched back in steadily, eventually knotting it up at 15-15.
- A pair of kills from Haley Libs got the Norse in front, 21-19, but attacking errors by NKU and two aces from the Wolf Pack saw Nevada take the second set, 25-22.
Third Set Summary
- Shelby Olsen started things off with strong serving in the third, recording two aces to give NKU a 3-0 edge.
- The Norse continued to maintain a two-point lead throughout the set, but Nevada mustered up an advantage and NKU faced five match points before eventually conceding, 28-26.
- NKU had its most efficient set, hitting .231 in the third. Libs led the way with five kills, while Ashton Terrill registered seven digs.
Norse Notes
- Libs was the only Norse in double digits with 10 kills and was just off a double-double with eight digs.
- Bagwell hit .385 with five kills and no errors, also leading the Norse at the net with three blocks.
- NKU served up nine aces, with three from Olsen and two from Miranda Wucherer and Maddy Weber.
- Terrill had 16 digs in the match, and Olsen had a double-double with 12 assists and 13 digs. Wucherer added 13 assists and nine digs.
Match 2 Recap: NKU 3, NIU 2
First Set Summary
- The Huskies established a quick lead that allowed NIU to hold the Norse at arm's length for the remainder of the frame. NIU hit .226 with just four hitting errors and delivered three aces in the win.
- Libs led the Norse with five kills and also picked up six digs, as did Terrill.
Second Set Summary
- Despite 16 kills for the Norse in the second, NIU terminated at a .312 hitting percentage en route to a 25-23 second set. The Norse staved off two set points, but ultimately fell after NIU mustered a kill following a timeout.
- Libs added six kills and five digs, and Wucherer was efficient from the right pin with three kills on seven swings.
Third Set Summary
- The Huskies were in control for the first half of the third set and were in prime position for the sweep with a 24-22 advantage. But kills from Wucherer and Libs knotted the score, and the Norse battled back until a block from Bagwell and Laura Crawford gave NKU its first set point. Weber sealed the set with an ace.
- Libs was nearly unstoppable with nine kills on 13 swings, while Wucherer added six kills on 10 attempts with no errors.
- The Norse defense picked up 29 NIU attacks, with Libs leading the way with nine digs while Terrill chipped in seven.
Fourth Set Summary
- The Norse used their momentum to spring out to a 10-6 lead over the Huskies in the fourth and held off a late run in the middle of the set to push a deciding game.
- The Huskies were held to .068 from the floor, their lowest hitting percentage of the match.
- Libs added seven more kills to her count, already surpassing her previous career-high in kills. She picked up another nine digs as the team repeated with 29 digs.
Fifth Set Summary
- The start of the fifth was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, with NKU reaching the eight-point switch first.
- From there, NKU steadily extended out and utilized a timeout at 13-11 to regroup. Bailey Western gave the Norse match point with a solo block, and Crawford provided the final blow with a kill.
Norse Notes
- Libs was stellar with new career highs of 30 kills and 34 digs, connecting at a .290 clip. It marks the first 30/30 match by a Norse in recent history and is likely the first in program history. The last time an NKU player had 30 kills in a match was on Oct. 17, 2008, when Kelsey Wesaw put down 30 against Northern Michigan. With her 30 kills, Libs breaks her own Division-I-era single-match program record, previously set at 26 kills.
- Libs is now 50 digs away from becoming just the 10th member of NKU's 1,000-kill, 1,000 dig club.
- Wucherer posted her second triple-double of the season with 13 kills, 33 assists and 14 digs.
- Brinkmann added her first career double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs, and Olsen had 33 assists, 11 digs and three aces.
- Terrill picked up 24 digs in the back row as the Norse recorded 105 digs as a team, marking the first time since Oct. 22, 2017 vs. IUPUI that the Norse have surpassed the 100-dig mark.
- NKU hit .195 as a team, while the Huskies connected at a .172 clip.
Up Next
- NKU travels to Evansville, Indiana, for a one-day tournament on Saturday, Sept. 8. The Norse open up the tournament against Austin Peay at 12 p.m. ET before playing Evansville at 8 p.m. ET.
#TakeNotice
